live in new york city, where we pretty much assume that restaurant food is at least 10% made up of rat droppings. 15% sometimes. 20%, max. look, at the end of the day, no one wants to see road kill bambi being carted into the restaurant they're eating at but in the restaurant's defense, they do offer takeout. that's it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" begins now. countdown to debate night. just hours before barack obama and mitt romney's first head-to-head primetime face-off. oh,man. disaster, but it's not accident. crash cameras show you what it could be like upon a doomed jet liner. and a florida woman's close encounter with a protected mammal. you know this could land her in jail? >> that's a costly picture right there. >> oh, my goodness.

good morning to you. thank you for being with us. welcome to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. the big story this morning, it is go time. in just 16 hours all eyes will be on denver for the first presidential debate. president obama will be making his case for four more years and mitt romney trying to convince the country he is the better man for the job. now, right now it looks like voters need convincing on both sides because in a brand new cnn poll of polls it shows a very close race. the president maintaining a razor-thin three-point lead with a month to go at this point. our cnn political director mark preston is live from denver right in the middle of it all. mark, you have new details on what to expect tonight. >> well, john, yes. there's no arguing, this is the most important moment of this presidential debate. in just a few hours as you said, mitt romney, barack obama

squaring off here in denver. it will be a 90-minute debate. it will cover six different segments. most of it, though, john, is going to be on the economy. there's going to be three segments to focus on the economy. one segment on foreign policy. one segment on the role of governing and one segment on the role of government in people's lives, john. so how this is going to be set up is that the candidates will be sitting at podiums. if you're looking at your tv screen, mitt romney on your left, president obama on your right. the first question tonight, john, goes to barack obama. >> well, will they have a chance to mix it up and rebutt each other in a free-flowing way. >> organizers hope to have a flee-flowing discussion. this is the kind discussion we like to see because it allows the two candidates to discuss it amongst themselves. if there are questions about each other's plans, they can directly ask each other that. we have not seen that in this

campaign and we'll see it tonight. >> you said the economy will likely be the big subject in the debate tonight. we have new polling to give a sense of what voters are saying about this right now. >> it is, john. no surprise, people are very downtrodden about the economy. let's look at the new cnn poll just released coming on the air. it shows that 73% of americans believe that there is poor economic conditions right now. only 27% believe it is good. john, you have to ask yourself, who is that 27% who thinks that the economy right now is doing well. >> and we have been talking about this all week, who do voters believe will win the debate before it starts? >> well, john, again, a lot of expectations and games being played by both campaigns. mitt romney down playing it, barack obama downplaying it, but the american public shows that they believe barack obama will have the edge tonight. of course, we can say what we want to about the poll numbers and what the american public

will see, but we won't know the answer until 11:00 this evening. >> mark preston down in denver, can you feel the electricity already? >> absolutely. it is early here, john, but it is starting to ramp up, no doubt. >> great. we'll talk to you again. look for a couple corks beyond what they just say in delivery tone and body language are as important to voters as the substance of what the candidate is saying, to some voters. here's what to watch for as body language experts say when mitt romney is agitated, his arms fail around a bit. and president obama has a tendency to go on and on. he's long-winded and both candidates do well when they are standing at podiums. now in the next half hour of "early start," we'll break down what each candidate has to establish with richard socarides and erick erickson.

>> i'm a little nervous for them. >> this is the super bowl right now. a pennsylvania judge has temporarily blocked a key component of that state's new voter i.d. law. voter does not have to show a state-approvedived in order to vote. supporters say it will prevent fraud at the polls but opponents say it is a chance to suppress the democratic minority vote. and mike mcqueary claims in a lawsuit that he was the only assistant football coach not invited to interview for employment under bill o'brien in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal. mcqueary said he witnessed an

apparent sexual encounter between sandusky and the boy. a florida woman could face a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail for hitching a ride on top of a manitee. she turned herself into sheriffs near tampa after this photograph was released to the public. manitees are protected from alleged abuse by florida law. so this picture could get her in serious trouble. the fog settled over new york city right now this morning. this is a live picture of columbus circle. it is foggy and air force two was kept from landing twice yesterday. rob marciano is live from atlanta this morning. >> new york is not the only spot that's soupy, but around the metro area at the airports, a half mile to quarter-mile visibility. right there off the bat, if you have travel plans, that's going to limit them. dense fog advisory out for the tri-state area. that's until 10:00 a.m. with that, a little bit of sprinkles and light showers as well. a couple embedded heavier

showers from here across the delmarva through the carolinas and down across florida. which by the way, miami and fort myers and tampa, they have seen a tremendous amount of rain going down as one of the wettest on record before this fall season is done. very slow moving system moving up the eastern seaboard. with the fog, it is very warm outside. you have this warm sector right here between the fronts. because of that, it will be well above average, but that will keep the fog around until we clear things out with the front behind it. much dryer weather with another front dropping across the northern tier with that coming some snow. 83 in denver. that's before the chilly air. maybe in the 80s in d.c. as well. 75 but no bargain with the fog and showers across this morning near new york state. >> thank you very much. seven minutes past the hour, dozens of planes are now being inspected after the discovery of an unsettling safety flaw onboard. cabin seats that actually came loose. >> that's up settling.

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welcome back. ten minutes after the hour. i'm john berman. glad you are with us. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. i changed tops, can everybody tell? i was clashing with you and your pink tie. that was a quick change for everyone. all right, not a great week for already struggling american airlines. the airline is now saying it will inspect 47 of the boeing 757s after seats came loose in flight on two of its planes within days of each other. so far they have checked 36 planes. six had seats that were not properly secured. american says not all the seats were loose but had potential to become so. the apparent culprit, improperly installed clamps. george is following the developments from atlanta. what can you tell us, george? >> good morning. for some passengers that meant

starting the flight on one row of seats and ending the flight a row or two back. no doubt, this is a public relations problem for the airline, but more importantly it is an issue of safety that american airlines promises to fix. it's happened on three separate flights with passengers onboard. twice on the same plane. entire rows of seats came loose on american airlines 757s and according to this passenger who did not want to be identified -- >> the seats flipped backwards. it was actually a complete nightmare. and so people were essentially on the laps of the passengers behind them. >> american airlines says the root cause of the problem came down to clamps that were installed backwards. it's the latest in a series of setbacks for the airline, which filed for bankruptcy nearly a year ago and has been battling recently with its major unions over contract terms. the union points the finger to outsource maintenance work as

the reason for the problem. david campbell with american airlines says crews are getting to the bottom of it. >> the guys who work with us every single day, they are engineers and tech chiefs, they have gone in to determine what they believe is the potential failure. but we are also focusing our attention on making sure they are properly installed. >> reporter: the problem prompted an inspection on the seats of nearly half of american airlines 757s. seats that were first pulled out and reinstalled in a plan to give passengers more leg room. workers have already inspected 36 planes with 11 yet to be inspected. so far they have discovered a total of six planes that all had the same problem. campbell dismissed the idea that the loose seats could somehow be linked to the ongoing labor dispute. >> i really have a difficult time believing that -- i just don't believe that it is. >> reporter: as american

airlines promises to fix the problem, many passen jers say while the issue with new seats is troubling, it does not necessarily shake their confidence with the airline. >> it seems kind of trivial. >> i'm a frequent flyer, so it would be hard to change. i would have to look into it to say if they took care of it. >> it is the flight delays and cancellations. about 12,000 in the past month and more than 1,000 flights canceled to make loyal customer ps like carl gardner to think twice. >> if the current process lingers own and there are flight delays, that could change my mind. >> reporter: as american airlines came forward to talk about this issue, we learned that the pilots need to resume contract negotiations with the airline. american airlines says it is committed to working with the apa to find a solution to work with everyone. >> well, there's a little good news. george howell.

>> i can't believe the rows slipped back. >> what did she say, two rows back? that would concern me. 14 minutes after the hour. i want to get you up to speed on the top stories. it is time to debate. president obama and mitt romney square off in denver in less than 16 hours now. domestic policy and the economy will be the main topics in the first of three presidential debates. the latest cnn poll of polls has the president leading the republican challenger 49% to 46%. cnn's live debate coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern tonight. philadelphia police are hoping this surveillance video leads them to the group that beat up and robbed a 47-year-old man in a grocery store. investigators now say someone in the video posted their video bragging about the attack on youtube. the group passed the man at the frozen food aisle saturday night and suddenly turned around to surround him. words were exchanged before the man was punched, quicked and

struck with a glass bottle. one of the suspects took the man's money clip with $100 in cash. the man went to the hospital with a broken nose and cut on the cheek. this is incredible, frightening and very real video of a huge 727 passenger jet going down in the desert. it is all caught on tape from dozens of angles. why? they did this on purpose. this is part of the discovery channel's new "curiosity" series. this was pulled off to give researchers and you a closer look at what happens in a crash landing. it may not be a death sentence. >> several different studies from different sources say if you're involve issed in a plane crash, and most accidents in the majority are survival. >> more information and great research data that we can use to make planes more simpler.

i'm very confident that i'll be safe. >> those are incredible pictures. coming up at 6:00, we'll hear from those who had to do all the hard work. accident investigator and surry vooiflt tom bart and cindy burr is going to be talking to us about that. this is such a coordinated effort to pull this off. >> the video is unbelievable. another great story, a big-league day. return i returning after suffering an injury. he struck out swinging as a pinch-hitter, but he magically signed a one-day contract with the marlins before the game. because he got to the at-bat and was not struck out, it never registered. according to the stats. he never played in a game.

now you can say that he played in a minor league. 17 minutes after the hour. time for "early read," your headlines making national news. a utah principal apologizing after turning away dozens of teens including the homecoming queen from the homecoming dance because their dresses were too short. the high school principal kendall toppin said the girls' dress penalty will be steep. the dresses need to be at or knee-length. this is from "the orlando sentinel." a school system may install trash can cameras to see what students are throwing away. lake officials are considering the new rule as kids will be

forced to put health things on your trash. they may devour the pizza but ignore the pears. they don't believe how this gets students and kids to eat the fruits and vegetables. >> eat them, they will make you big and strong. detroit has the car of the year. we have all the nominees coming up for you. [ male announcer ] now you can swipe...

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welcome back. u.s. stock futures are pointing to a lower open. some disappointing economic data out of china and australia pushing markets lower worldwide. >> australia dragging us down? what's up with that? two more days until the big september jobs report but christine has the own cnn money survey of what economists are saying. >> they are looking for 110,000 jobs to be created in the month. it is not great but it's showing you there's this consistent slow and steady job creation. if you look at a chart that we put together for you, it sort of shows you the way it's gone. from september a year ago, you were doing 202,000 jobs. this year you're doing almost half that with the unemployment rate 8.1%. will it sway the election? a lot of people don't think the jobs report will sway the election. here's why. there are two more to show this kind of no big surprise one way or the other. this kind of jobs growth is kind of baked into the conversation, isn't it? slow and steady, not as much as

you would like. that's what we keep saying. >> an unexpected number may matter. >> we'll get something called the adp, private payroll report later that's one private sector gauge. we'll be closely watching that one expected at 133,000. sometimes the adp report is right on. previewing the jobs report, sometimes it is totally off. >> there's good news about car sales. >> car sales really did well in the most recent month. in fact, even doing better than early 2008. general motors up 1.5%. ford down 0.1%, but chrysler had a great month up 12%. >> is it because of low interest rates? >> it is pent up demand, a lot of incentives, low interest rates and easier financing. if you look at the foreign automakers, toyota up 41%. honda, volkswagon, hyundai, watch as these reveal on your screen that people are buying

cars again. that's a sign of a resurgent american consumer, no question. and related, the north american car and truck of the year nominees are in. would you like to see what they are? >> we have a fortune reporter that's a juror who helps vote for the best car. cadillac, ats, ford fusion, i hear a lot about the ford fusion, a lot of people like the design of this one. and the subaru brz. bmw's always pop late the list and the last few years have been populated it a lot. so we'll see. >> interesting list. thank you, christine row man. coming up, the hunt for the real mona lisa. what archaeologists found under a compound in italy. >> another dig? >> if you are leaving your home, just go to cnn.com/tv.

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showdown in denver. the first debate between barack obama and mitt romney just hours away. and innocent bystander? why an eighth grade who never threw a punch was suspended after this fight, that fight you just saw, in his school. and what's wrong with this picture? the potential iphone 5 problem that has some people seeing purple. really? >> i got my new iphone 5. i have not seen purple yet. >> i look purpose toll you every day. welcome back. i'm john berman. >> you look many things to me.

this morning very handsome. i'm zoraida sambolin. it is 29 minutes past the hour. so tonight is a big night. a battle months or years in the making. president barack obama and republican challenger mitt romney finally on the stage for the very first debate. the advantage goes to the president in the brand new poll out there of likely voters. 56% betting on obama to win tonight. only 32% picking mitt romney. i want to bring in cnn contributor, erick erickson, thank you for being here. you were calling it fight night in america, right? >> it is like friday night, a big fight. >> erick, i would like to start with you, you heard the poll numbers, what does romney have to do in order to overcome those expectations? low expectations? >> apparently not much.

i hate the expectation games with debates. you know, these guys are both competent professionals. the spin they try to put out that, oh, mitt romney is better than me or barack obama is better than me, he just, one, needs to give up the trying to look pleasant and likable. he's been trying to do this now for a year and he hasn't been likable. show up, be competent, show you can do the job and be nice to the president the same way the president needs to be nice to you. by the way, i have my iphone and have not seen purple yet. >> richard, would you agree with that? in an article in "usa today" it say os obama has a disadvantage because they traditionally don't do well in the debates, the sitting presidents. >> i think it is a very important night for both of these men. the challenge for president obama is like the challenge he's had at all the crucial moments in the campaign. much the same challenge he faced

at the convention, and that is he has to defend his record robustly and take credit for the things he's established but at the same time acknowledge that he has not done enough to change the challenge. i think he'll do great tonight as i think governor romney will. >> charlie cook, a prognosticator who seems to think the election will, quote, it will require a massive screwup by president obama or some international event that just shakes everything up. romney's got a week to turn this thing around." if something doesn't happen soon, republicans will panic. how much is riding on tonight's debate? i want to go back out to erick. >> i wouldn't say it's a complete law, but yeah, i tend to think mitt romney is building things. people are voting around the country and that's just the reality. republicans can be made at me, but it is.

i really am hesitant of locking these things in with a month to go overall. because as charlie pointed out, events do change things rapidly towards an election. >> how about the stories we are circulating from yesterday with the done nors moving their money to the congressional races, richard. >> well, i think you'll see that on the republican side. a lot of money, though, still in this race. so on either side. they won't worry about money. but i agree with erick, governor romney really needs to do something and probably do it tonight. that's why the -- you've got to take some risks tonight. otherwise the narrative is not going to change. and he's the underdog that has changed a narrative. it's a switch gears here. the romney campus is hitting on something joe biden mentioned yesterday. let's play it and talk about it.

>> this is deadly ernst how they can justify raising taxes in the middle class and how it has been buried the last four years. how in lord's name can they justify raising our taxes with these tax cuts? >> all right. here's how paul ryan responded. >> i thought he was taking my speech. you know what? we agreed these are being buried by obama care and spending regulations and all things plaguing a business. the way to stop this is to stop this. >> the middle class has been buried for four years. who is to blame? >> that little exchange we saw encapsulates the challenge for president barack obama tonight. he has to defend his record,

he's got to take credit for the good things that have happened. i do think the country is headed in the right direction as i think most americans do, but i think he has to acknowledge how the experience is of real americans enough. not only on economic issues but he's not changing the tone in washington, which he's set out to do. i think the president also has to say what to do differently in the next four years. each of these men have to make a case of themselves and articulate the vision they have for the next four years otherwise they won't have a successful evening. >> there's trouble for biden in a new poll. a cnn/orc poll to put up for everyone. 60% of likely voters believe biden is going to lose to ryan. is biden a liability? don't laugh. >> he's the gift that keeps on giving. let's go back to the prior point. one of the major criticisms is

they don't seem aggressive enough. in the next 24 hours, they will be opposing barack obama's line about projects and joe biden saying the middle class is buried under it. there's a problem in the aggressi aggressiveness department. >> i think it's the ryan/biden debate that will be interesting. because of the contrast, it has been around for a while. one is kind of newer, fresher. i think that the republicans are probably a little disappointed in the fact that mr. ryan has not really been able to enliven the ticket. >> he as in not been utilized. >> that's very interesting. why are they not utilizing him? i think that there was a lot of -- the republicans said, well, i'm going to be under a new ball game. but then they put him in the

closet. >> she surprised a lot of us. conservative outlets pushing a tape from 2007 sponsoring hurricane responses. listen to this gentleman. >> what's happening down in new orleans? where is your dollar? where is your stafford act money? it makes no sense. it tells me the bullet hasn't been taken out. it tell mess that somehow the people down in new orleans, they don't care about as much. >> so cnn has the entire archive of this tape. this was not a closed event. another organization also covered it but i think this is damaging right before the debates. >> i don't think so. there are elements within the republican party desperate to change the narrative or try to change the narrative in any way we can. a tape from the last campaign

that has been played and hurt before. i don't think there's anything new here. and i think it looks kind of desperate to me. >> erick, weigh in on this. >> i think this is more damaging toward the media than barack obama, i say this because the tape has been out since 2007. president obama told a black audience the bush administration considered new yorkers and floridians part of the american community but didn't consider blacks in new orleans part of the american community. had a white politician had a republican politician saying that, we would be on day five of race in america in a way that barack obama is saying, this is old news and never focused on it since 2007. >> so you're suggesting since it was a black man talking to him he was able to get away with it. >> i'm saying they would never let a politician make lies about what was going on. the bush administration considered themselves as part of

louisiana. first of all, i'm offended with that given with what happened in hurricane katrina and to put it together with 9/11 as well. this is old news when -- >> but it is old news. you didn't cover barack obama telling a large black audience that the administration couldn't see part of the united states. >> first of all, that's not what he said. >> yes it was what he said. he told a large black audience that the bush administration considered new yorkers part of the american community and floridians part of the american community, but he didn't consider them in new orleans part of the american community. that's telling a black audience who clearly understood what he was saying with the analogy of the bullet in the baby's arm that somehow they weren't part of the american community. >> unfortunately i have to leave it there. thank you both for being with us this morning. erick, i wish you were in studio. >> i think it would be more fun.

>> we did have fun. >> we'll have more fun in the next hour. 39 minutes past the hour. it is go-time. the first presidential debate takes place tonight live at 7:00 eastern on cnn and on cnn.com. >> you guys have too much fun, what are you talking about? let's turn to a serious story now at 39 minutes after the hour. members of an arizona high school football team could face expulsion over an allegedly racially-involved hazing unit involving a noose. they allegedly placed the noose around the neck of a 14-year-old african-american player inside their locker room. and eighth grade students also had their cell phone confiscated and was told to sign a discipline report and delete the video if he wanted the phone back. his family covers a local news station and he was removed from

the disciplinary list. more on unhappy iphone users. they are complaining about a burst of purple in the photos. an e-mail suggests users angle the camera away from bright sources in order to prevent the problem. seriously. >> here's the thing. you hear about this, everyone is jealous if they don't have one. 41 minutes after the hour. here's something you don't hear every day. a rising star who credits the government for helping him succeed. one man's story out of poverty and onto the opera stage. listen to that voice! >> that will wake you up. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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pay attention to this because it is a lovely story. solomon howard witnessed his first murder when he was 7 years old growing up on the streets of southwest washington, d.c. determination, pride and some much-needed help from the government lifted him out of that neighborhood and onto the stage. and today, wow, he is an opera star. wait until you hear him. barbara starr live in washington with much more on this remarkable man. >> reporter: well, john, you hear all the talk about the 47% of americans too dependent on the government. i think we are probably going to hear a lot about that in tonight's debate. i want you all to meet a young man who you might think fits that easy label, but really is a powerhouse of his own. ♪ >> reporter: 31-year-old solomon howard sings to the rich and

powerful. his singing has brought him here to the kennedy center singing in moza mozart's giovanni who broadway. it is one of washington, d.c.'s poorest neighborhoods where solomon grew up, the eldest of seven children. >> we lost our home, then stayed with families, different families. we sometimes would walk until we could find something, somewhere to stay. >> reporter: his family, part of the 47% referred to by republican candidate mitt romney, in that controversial video addressing wealthy republican donors. but solomon says his mother and step-father never thought it was the government's job to take care of them. >> they always instilled great

values and morals in us and to never give up and to keep pursuing. >> reporter: after a life of food stamps and no health care, finally a teacher heard solomon sing. >> she said, i want you to try this. i want you to be serious about it and see what you have. >> reporter: there was a college sco scholarship, but solomon says don't put our family in a category of easy labels. when you see this debate in the country, the whole 47% question, you know, what do you want people to really begin to understand about that? >> assistance is very important. i remember a few times where we often ate off the salvation army food truck. that was something that had the salvation army not been there, i may have missed a meal that night or those few nights. but what the government does for

us here is very helpful. at the same time, we do have to take responsible for ourselves. >> reporter: oh, by the way, this opera singer would also like to do other things. >> voice-overs. this is cnn. >> solomon howard will tell you that music and opera have set him free from the time he was just 3 years old and his mother stood him on a table in church to sing. and no surprise, he's a huge advocate of music education for children, even if it is funded by the government. he says help is vital for so many and you never know what gifts a young child has to offer unless they get the bit of help if they need it. >> we can't get over his voice. we can't get over how low his voice was. we are sitting here going, that can't be real. >> i have to tell you, when he went loose with "lord what a morning" i stepped back. i thought i would be blown over by the sheer power of his voice.

it is him. it is just unbelievable. >> you have to share more of that tape. snip-its on the website, that was incredible. a powerful story coming from him as well. we appreciate it. thank you, barbara. thank you. >> thank you so much. 48 minutes past the hour. a moment of triumph quickly turns a bit scary at the hockey rink. oh! goodness. more of that video and the story behind the video coming up.

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it is 52 minutes after the hour. john berman with zoraida sambolin. we are looking at what's trending on the internet this morning. >> a news anchor in wisconsin took on a viewer who personally attacked her in an e-mail and used it as an attention to call it to bullying. the viewer accused jennifer livingston of being a poor example to young girls. why? because she's overweight. she said while the e-mail was hurtful to her, she's more concerned about children who are bullied. >> if you are at home and you were talking about the fat news lady, guess what? your children are probably going to go to school and call someone fat. we need to teach our kids how to be kind, not critical. and we need to do that by example. >> atta girl! that was fantastic. livingston also said she was comforted so many people reached

out to support her with very kind words once that e-mail was made public. >> don't mess with news anchors. >> that's right. time to take you down, down to toon town. the corporate network is celebrating its 20th network with a video showing you the evolution of toon. take a look. >> ah! >> zoinks! >> now the network launched in 1992 with the $320 million purchase of the library and that includes tom and jerry. and in sports anything can happen on the sports rink. one player was so excited about celebrating a goal he celebrated by throwing himself into the glass on the side of the rink

which shattered into a million pieces. here's the good news. no one was hurt. >> oh, thank goodness. all right. coming up, a crash test. a different kind of crash test to the ultimate extreme. that's why. look at that. amazing! a 727 with crash test dummies, 40 cameras and a crew of daring pilots crashes on purpose. what did the expert learn? you could survive, could you? does bracing for the impact help? next hour we'll hear from two team leaders on this, dr. tom barth and professor dr. cindy bir. and bullies prank a school for the deaf and it backfires when taylor swift comes to their rescue. that story ahead. also, "early start" will be back after the break. he ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up.

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we are counting down to tonight's obama/romney face-off. last night we got a late night debate preview. >> yeah, it's a big deal. i understand they'll have fact checkers standing by in case either candidate happens to say something factual. i don't think it's going to happen. >> everyone is looking for some kind of sign as to who will win the debate. in fact, one group of researchers is saying presidential candidates who blink less during a debate where more likely to win the election. or as michele bachmann put it, maybe i can get back in this thing? hey! there you go. >> the presidential debates will be streamed live on youtube. anyone going to watch it on youtube? yea. as a result, both candidates have been busy learning how to

dance gangnam style. >> mitt romney was asked live on "with kelly and michael" who he liked better, snooki or honey boo boo. snooki heard about it but she a decided who she want. she wants to stick a few more facts in her head and roll them around. i didn't realize snooki was tall enough to vote, to be honest. you should be allowed to vote or be on engineer"jersey shore." she might be the only bern who's better off now than she was four years ago. >> even snooki should watch the debates tonight on cnn. "early start" continues right now. countdown to the throwdown. debate night, hours to go before

barack obama and mitt romney's first head-to-head prime time face-off. doctors trying to trace the source of a deadly form of meningitis. airlines under investigation for loose seats. good morning. i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it's 6 a.m. in the east. let the debate begin. tonight mitt romney and barack obama will be together in the same room for just the fourth time in their lives. as they square off in denver in the first 2012 presidential debate. the president making his pitch for four more year. romney trying to convince voters four more years is four too many and he's the candidate that can turn the country around. a new cnn poll of polls has the president holding a three-point lead with barely a month to go in the race. within the margin of error.

mark preston is in live in denner are. you have new details on what we can expect tonight. >> you know, we've talked about moments during this presidential campaign and there's no arguing tonight is the most important moment. 90-minute debate starts at 9:00 eastern time. six segments. half the debate will be focusinged on issue number one, the economy. the candidates will also be talking about governing. they'll talk about the role of government in people's lives. they're also going to talk about health care. zoraida, as you're watching the tv screen tonight, mitt romney will be on your left, barack obama will be on your right. the first question is going to go to the president, zoraida. >> and standing behind podiums? >> they will be standing behind podiums, which in many ways might set up a more confrontational style. if you're sitting around a table, you tend not to be confrontational with your opponent. when you're at a podium, you split apart a little bit, so we could see fireworks. >> and there's no surprise that

the economy will dominate tonight's debate. you have some new poll numbers from voters on that specific issue. >> well, you know what, zoraida, this is the new cnn/orc poll that's just come out in the past hour. it really explains where we are as a country and what people think of the economy. 73% of americans describe the economic conditions in the united states as poor. we shouldn't be very surprised by that. 27% say they're not poor. in many cases you have to ask yourself, who's this 27% who thinks the economy is doing very well at this point. >> john berman and i were talking about the expectations. what do you expect? what do folks expect the candidates, who's going to pull it off tonight? >> you know, zoraida, we have new poll numbers. we asked the american public what they thought. and barack obama comes out on top. as we quickly look at this number -- >> by a lot. >> -- most people think barack

obama is going to win tonight's debate by a lot. who knows who's going to win. a lot of people forget mitt romney had 20 presidential debates under his belt in this past republican presidential primary, but barack obama, former law professor from harvard, does pretty well behind the podium. we'll know the answer about 11:00 eastern time tonight. >> you excited? >> i'm very excited. i'm up right now. it's 4:00 right now in denver. i'm not the only one up getting ready for tonight's debate. >> mark preston live for us in denver. thank you very much. in tonight's debates some say you should look for quirks with candidates. to some viewers, delivery, tone, body language can be just as important as the substance of what some candidates say. when mitt romney is agitated, they say his arms apparently flail a bit. also president obama has an issue with long windedness. some debate watchers say that about him. both candidates seem to do well

when they are standing behind podiums. so, i don't know, do you think it's going to be really crazy tonight? >> the super bowl of politics and happens only every four years. this is why we love it. >> a little confrontational. in the next half hour of "early start" we'll break down the debate and what each candidate has to accomplish. with richard socarides and erick. our live debate coverage begins tonight at 7 p.m. eastern on cnn and also on cnn.com. five minutes after the hour right now. some other stories. a pennsylvania judge is temporarily blocked a key component of that state's new voter identification law. voters will not have to show a state-approved photo i.d. in order to cast a ballot in next month's presidential election. they say it's designed to prevent fraud but supporters say it's an attempt to suppress

democratic minority vote. american airlines said seats came loose in flight on two of its planes within days of each other. so far they are checked 36 planes. six had planes not properly secured. americans say not all seats were loose but they had the potential to become so. they say improperly installed clamps are to be blamed. mike mcqueary has filed a whistle-blower suit against the university. he said he was the only assistant football coach not invited to. mcqueary was a key prosecution witness in the case who said he witnessed an apparent section you' -- sexual conduct between s sandusky and a boy. there are 14 victims in all

of meningitis, one in an unspecified state. st. thomas outpashlt neurosurgery center will remain closed until investigators find out what's going on there. riding on top of a manatee could cost a woman 16 days in jail and a fine. sheriffs near tampa were not happy when they saw this picture. the woman turned herself in after the photo was released to the public. >> folks who live in that area typically know that. his performance unforgettable for all the wrong reasons. why there will be no encore for this rapper coming up.

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welcome back. ten minutes past the hour. tonight president obama and mitt romney take the stage in the first of three presidential debate. we'll take a look at the hall in denver where it will take place. an entire segment will be devoted to the key issue of health care in america. joining me is elizabeth cohen to discuss how this might actually unfold. before we get to the debate, remind us of the differences between each candidate on health care. >> right, zoraida, there are some real philosophical differences. let's boil it down here. obama care mandates that all of us, you, me, nearly all of us buy insurance and it also mandates that insurance companies accept everybody, even if you've got an expensive preexisting condition. the romney plan is to appeal obama care, which means there

will be no mandate to buy insurance. also, he's going to have fewer requirements on insurance companies. he's not going to tell insurance companies what to do, to the same extent obama does. >> let's get to the debate. let's start with governor romney. how might he score points? >> he's recently been running an ad that talks about how obama is putting taxes on the middle class. what he means by this, because we asked, and what he means by this is the money that americans will have to pay if they don't buy insurance, because if you don't buy insurance, you'll have to pay money. you can call it a penalty. the supreme court calls it a tax. and many of the people paying that will be the middle class. zoraida, it's important to remember, this isn't a tax like, let's say, a sales tax which you have to pay. there's no way out of it. you only pay this tax if you choose not to purchase health insurance. >> right. and it's inkra mental, the charge, right, happens over a certain number of years.

>> the charge when it starts in 2014 is going to be higher in years to come than it will be in the beginning. in other words, it gets higher as the years going on. >> now, on to president obama, how might he attack romney's health plan? >> i think one of the first things he might say is, what health care plan? governor romney has been very sparing on the details of his health care plan if he's elected president. he talks a lot on repealing obama care but not on what his plan will be. he says he wants people with preexisting conditions, some of them he wants to be able to buy insurance or he want insurance companies to have to sell to them, but he hasn't really spelled out exactly how that will work. he says if you've had continuous care in the past, then you should be able to get insurance. he hasn't said what that means, continuous care in the past. so, he may accuse him of not having fully laid out a plan. >> short on the details there. medicare you know is going to

come up tonight. what are the candidates proposing and who's ahead on this issue going into that debate? >> this is interesting because we've heard so much about it. i would expect romney is going to say, wow, obama wants to cut medicare by billions of dollars and obama's going to say that's not true and that's been hashed out for several months now. in the reverse i would expect romney -- i would obama to say senior citizens will have to pay more money if romney is elected, pay more money on their health care. i would expect romney to say, that's not true. we've heard these arguments for months. let's take a look at new polling data from cnn/orc. the question is asked, who would handle medicare better? 52% said obama, 44% said romney. those numbers have been the same for a while now. we'll see if the debate changes that. >> elizabeth cohen, with a preview of what we might expect tonight. we appreciate it. 14 minutes after the hour right now.

a lot of news going on. christine with the news. >> benjamin netanyahu is calling it primitive and childish and said last week it was intellectual and childish. ahmadinejad used the words retarded yesterday to describe netanyahu's speech. a woman who was raped and beaten by a man she met on match.com is speaking out. jennifer bennet said she never if thought the prosecution would use her google searches against her. lawyers tried to use against her the fact she googled the definition of rape. she's now encouraging other sexual assault victims to come forward. last week her attacker, 37-year-old thomas gray was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

wow. incredible. frightening. a huge 727 passenger jet goes down in the desert. it's all caught on tape from dozens of angles because they did this on purpose. it's all part of the discovery channel's new "curiosity" series. it was pulled off to give researchers and you a closer look at what happens during a crash landing. they found it might not be a death sentence. >> several different studies from several different sources have confirmed. if you're involved in a plane crash, and most accidents by majority very survival. >> our experiment gave us great research data to feed in to make planes safer. i feel confident when i get in the air i'll be safe. coming up, we'll hear more from the people who had to do all this hard work. you could say they were the one who had to pick up all the

pieces, collect all the data dr. tom barth and cindy bir will be on the program. after a half century on the big screen -- you know the name. >> bond, james bond. >> ah! i love james bond. no, no -- >> love it. >> that's right. october marks the 50th anniversary of dr. no. 007 has managed to stay young through the girls and the bond girls. the box set is out with all james bond movies. it was my favorite series. >> what's your favorite? >> i like all of them. the most recent one is the one i love the most. i said this on the air and i got a lot of feedback from people said why would someone like me like a massa-- it's a little ca-

>> he has issues with women. i will say that about about mr. bond. >> i enjoy, too. 17 minutes past the hour. rappers' wild performance in a microsoft shop in atlanta with a police escort out. jumped on tables, destroying them last friday, cursed up a storm so much so we edited out the sound in this clip because we can't let you listen to if. he reportedly stomped on five computers before police were called to kick him out. >> lots of swear words. a juvenile prank turns out to be a big win for students at the horace student in boston. getting free tickets to taylor swift concert. francsters pretending to be from

the school. in addition to the free tickets, swift and others are donating up to $60,000 to the school. >> what a great ending. hollywood has oscars but detroit has the car of the year. nominees coming up. i'm barack obama and i approve this message. romney: "it's time to stand up to the cheaters" vo: tough on china? not mitt romney. when a flood of chinese tires threatened a thousand american jobs... it was president obama who stood up to china and protected american workers. mitt romney attacked obama's decision...

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u.s. stock futures indicating a flat open. why are you laughing? why are you laughing?

>> i was looking over there when i should be looking right there. still, two more days until the big september jobs report. christine, what do they say? >> you're wondering what the jobs report will be. it's more of the same. cnn money survey of economists think it will be like 110,000 jobs created in the month, which is not enough to keep up with new people entering the work force. it's what -- >> it's something. >> and the next couple of months you'll likely see -- most people tell me you're likely to see this kind of a pace of job creation. if no big surprises what does it mean for the election? we had this emergency situation four years ago where we were losing hundreds of thousands of jobs now it's a chronic situation where we're not creating enough jobs. same story. we'll get more data today from the private sector payroll company. >> people are spending money on new cars. >> they are. car sales, you guys, it was a really good month for car sales. big surprise there. the best month since 2008. remember, cash for clunkers.

this is what u.s. auto sales did. gm, ford, chrysler. chrysler had a really good month. ford f-series pickup truck, toyota camry, this is what people were buying and foreign automakers gang busters, double-digit gains, sales up 13% from a year ago. just under 15 million, bigger than the spike for cash for clunkers, the government program from three years ago. we also have this gallery of cars that have been nominated for the best car and truck of the year award. finalists will be announced in a couple months. these are the cars on this list. "fortune" has a juror who will vote, his cadillac ats, ford fusion -- you said you've driven a fusion. >> when i'm on the record. >> the fusion is 3-1. >> i'll test drive the subaru for you. >> the bmw keeps making the

list. >> do they ever win? >> usually a finalist. there you go. car sales are up. >> what's the one thing we need to know about our money? >> super cheap financing to buy a car. super cheap financing to buy a car. and it's interesting because used car prices are rising. and i think 1 in 10 car buyers are getting zero percent financing, zero percent. >> zero percent? >> that's free. that's free. and even a study earlier this week say people with not perfect credit are also getting great financing deals. that's behind this trend. cheap time to buy a car. >> christine romans, thanks. 25 past the hour. some iphone 5 users are seeing red, purple. seeing red over purple pictures. take a look at that. we'll explain this phenomenon coming up. my doctor told me calcium

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shot down. journey to the center of the earth. no, not a s krichlt-fi movie, a billion dollar mission to explore the land beneath our feet. disaster but no accident here. crash-test cameras captures what it might be like aboard a doomed jetliner. we have all the findings for you. stay tuned for that. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it's about 6:30 right now in the east.

game time. it is debate night in america. they fired attacks at each other for months on the campaign trail but tonight mitt romney and barack obama finally face-to face on the stage. a live look from inside the debate hall in denver where it will go down. they'll meet face-to-face in the first of three presidential candidate debates.

don't make any mistakes. i think it's that simple. there are a lot of things he could do that would help him. i think he has to explain to americans why he hasn't been able to change the culture in washington enough. i think he has to articulate what he's accomplished, what he wants to do the next four years. the one thing he has to do most more than anything else, is not make any mistake. >> erick erickson, what is one thing mitt romney needs to do tonight? >> not get hung up on likability. that's been his problem the last year or so, he wants people to like him. people aren't suddenly going to like him more than barack obama in the last five weeks of the campaign. get over it, yes, you may like barack obama more than me but he hasn't done the job. >> richard says barack obama needs to play it safe. you say, mitt romney, don't play

it nice. that's an interesting summation of the debate strategies. i want to talk about vice president biden, a favorite subject for both of you. >> america loves joe biden. >> i love joe biden. he said something on the campaign trail something yesterday and the republicans were quick to pounce. let's listen to what he said. >> this is deadly earnest. how they can justify, how they can justify, raising attacks on the middle class has been buried the last four years. how in lord's name can they justify raising their taxes with these tax cuts? >> and this is how paul ryan responded. >> i thought he was taking my speech. you know what? we agree. the middle class has been buried over the last four years. they're being buried by obama care, by borrowing, taxes, spending, more regulations, all

this uncertainty plaguing businesses. the way to fix this is stop this and elect mitt romney. >> on the joe biden, gaffe meter, how big of a gaffe is this? >> joe biden gaffe meter? that's probably different. probably a six for a non-joe biden it would probably be an eight. come on, joe biden makes some great ones. you know, i thought it was interesting yesterday, the amount of conference calls that suddenly both sides engaged in after joe biden opened his mouth. after, put you back in chains comment, they took him off the stage for a few weeks and they may do that for the rest of the election. >> i want to move on to another piece of tape that's received a lot of attention over the last 24 hours or so. a tape put out by fox news, daily caller, drudge report, in a high level of coordination which showed an event president obama, then-senator obama held in 2007, covered, by the way,

entire media, including cnn but they put it out as some sort of a revelation. >> what's happening down in new orleans? where's your dollar? where's your stafford act money? makes no sense. tells me the bullet hasn't been taken out. tells me that somehow the people down in new orleans, they don't care about as much. >> richard, do you -- >> sounds like he's fired up, ready to go, right? >> do you think it's damaging to the president? >> no. i think it's a rather desperate attempt -- tucker carlson is the guy who employed -- he yelled at the press conference a few months ago. they're trying to do anything they can to change the narrative. the uncovering of this tape that cnn has had for five years and played multiple times before, you know, i think it's nothing.

>> what about uncovering something that was never covered? >> i don't think that this is going to persuade anyone. i think republicans probably do need to focus more on the unemployment and the economy. but, you know, i do think conservatives have -- i have had this running commentary this year on the media. you know, it reminds me of when republicans started quoting thing barack obama said in the past. there were all sorts of media stories about, where are they getting this stuff from? turns out they got it from his book that was a best seller in 2007 but no one actually read. yes, the immediate has had, but there were parts the media would have focused on if a republican said it, and they didn't with barack obama. did goes back to -- the media built this narrative that barack obama is something other than a run of the mill politician, and, in fact, he's a run of the mill politician. >> when you're down by as much as governor romney seems to be -- >> two points. >> -- it seems -- well, people

think the race is slipping away. some national polls showed two points but if you look at swing states and the likelihood of how things will play out -- listen, i'm not taking anything for granted. i don't think the race is wrapped up. i think tonight is a big night. >> i have to say -- yeah, i look, i admit the polls show mitt romney behind, but i think this year the media has discredited itself a lot in the way it covered the race. a lot of democrats think that, and a lot of republicans -- i'm shocked in the past six to eight weeks the media, for example, as the whole thing was going down in libya, it was clear it wasn't a riot, most of the media, to its credit cnn didn't, but the media focused on the romney 47% individual yo as libya was blowing up. to this network's credit, we try to balance it out. it's been appalling as conservative to focus on the romney gaffes. >> cnn has extensively covered the u.s. response in libya.

erick erickson and richard socarides, thank you for being here with us. we begin tonight live at 8:00 on cnn and cnn.com. a unique idea by university of texas student has been derailed, for now. he wanted to use a sophisticated 3d printer to produce a handgun designed on a computer. the printer uses plastic to physically make that product. but the maker of the printer found out about the idea and said, no way. it questioned the legality of the project and took back the printer. an eighth grade georgia student suspended for five days because he videotaped a fight on a school bus between two other students. jason bigby had a cell phone confiscated and told he would have to sign a discipline report and delete the video if he wanted his phone back. his family contacted a local news station in atlanta. when they got involved, officials at conyers middle

school returned the phone and removed the incident from his disciplinary record as well. many new iphone 5 owners are saying a burst of purple shows up on photos. an e-mail from apple's support team suggest users angle the camera away from bright light sources in order to prevent this problem. space may be the final prison tear but a team of international scientists plans to explore the land deep beneath our feet. a $1 billion mission to drill into the earth's mantel is being compared to the apollo moon missions and the samples it could yield. few people alive in the world know what a plane crash looks like from the inside. thank goodness. until now. coming up, a plane without passengers crashed on purpose. amazing footage. cameras take us right into the heart of the disaster. we'll show you more.

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it is debate in america. you're looking at a live picture of the hall in denver, colorado, where the debate will take place tonight. in a little while. i'm actually heading down to washington to take part in the cnn debate coverage. i'll be part of the fact check team and i have a feeling they'll keep us busy with the facts. it's been that type of campaign so far. >> you've probably been doing a lot of work then. >>ist been a busy few days. >> very cool. it is 42 minutes after the hour. welcome back to "early start," i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. >> let's get you up to date.

>> american airlines says it will inspect 47 boeing 757s after seats came loose in flight on two planes within days of each other. so far they've checked 37 36 planes. six had seats that were not properly secured. american is saying not all of the seats were loose but they potentially could loosen and they blame improperly installed clamps for the problem. we're learning more about the border patrol agent killed in a shootout along the arizona/mexico border identified as 30-year-old nicholas ivy, a second unidentified agent was wounded but his injuries are not life-threatening. the fbi and the county sheriff are investigating here. the third border patrol agent killed in the line of duty this year. trying to say debris floating around in space is becoming a major problem and now boeing has an idea about how to clean it up. here's a plan. to shoot inert gas into space which would slow down fast-moving space junk forcing

it to fall toward earth's atmosphere where it would burn up upon entry. they say space travel could become difficult. who are the guys sitting around coming up with this? >> nerds. thank god we have them. so if you are traveling today, dense fog could be a major factor for you. it's up and down the east coast. we have a live look at columbus circle, you can barely see, in new york city. rob marciano has so much more from atlanta. >> the good news is it's pretty warm out. >> that's true. >> you don't need a winter coat to enjoy the fog. up and count east coast, tropical moisture in place, stagnant air and visibilities are down below a quarter of a mile. teterboro, a ground stop there, delays at philadelphia already and we expect delays to continue. dense fog advisories for tri-state area of new york, stretching down towards d.c., including the shan douenandoah . a very slow-moving front, where we expect to see more showers

today but it will be soupy and damp and warm. temperatures will be well above average across the i-95 corridor. showers popping up on the radar. no big deal. you might want to bring a rain jacket because it's kind of -- it will be london-esque, i suppose. across florida they continue their extremely wet fall. rain in the forecast from tampa back to miami. this computer model shows snow in northern montana, north dakota, and upper elevations with 5 to 10 inches of snow and the arrowhead of minnesota, 4 to 6 inches possible with winds gusting 30 miles an hour. that's blizzard conditions. 83 in denver for deet bait and cooling down for tomorrow. >> it will be hot inside that debate hall, rob, no matter the temperature outside. thanks very much. nice to see you this morning. it is 45 minutes after the hour. soledad o'brien is here. i understand there will be a debate tonight? >> apparently. it's going to be hot inside that

debate hall and outside, as rob just said. we've been talking about the presidential debate. for the first time mitt romney and president obama will meet face-to-face, in denver tonight. the questions are, what would you ask if had you an opportunity to pose a question to one of the candidates? what should you be watching for, both in content and in body language? who goes in with an advantage? who has a disadvantage? this morning we talked to the obama campaign deputy campaign manager, stephanie cutter is our guest, barbara come stostock wi join us as well and brett o'donnell will talk us through handicapping this debate, all happening at 7 a.m. eastern time when we kick off "starting point". >> excellent. 46 minutes past the hour. must see video. we've been showing this to you all morning long. cameras mounted inside a plunging empty jetliner to capture the moment it captures to the ground. find out what was learned about seat location and your chances

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we've heard it all morning long it and still makes us jump. a huge 747 crashing in the dessert, by remote control, all part of the discover channel's new "curiosity" series where a controlled experiment was captured by 40 cameras and sensors to give researchers what happens during a crash atlantaing. >> it airs on discovery channel this sunday night at 9 p.m. two top experts are here with us now, accident investigator dr. tom barth and dr. cindy bir. >> thank you for being with us this morning. we're very excited about this. >> i asked you, dr. bir,

earlier, have you ever attempted to do this before and you said you have. this took over four years to plan. why did you want to crash a plane? >> we were -- i was approached by a production company to do this about four years ago. i think tom and i were approached about the same sometime. and was just such an interesting project. i didn't attempt it before, but it was attempted back in '84. and they had lessons learned. we have new technology. so, it was a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to try something like this. and get some really important scientific data from it. >> walk us through it. how do you go about crashing a plane by remote control? >> well, there was a group of pilots that organized it and set up a remote control system and a parachuting plan to make sure they had control of the airplane and make sure they could get out so that they could get it on approach and get it the right attitude to crash. what we were interested in was having the appropriate angle and have the crash be in a

realistic, like, failed approach or failed takeoff circumstance so that we could learn something usable. if it wasn't -- if it didn't mimic a real crash scenario, it won't be much worth to us. >> can you walk us through that? what was that scenario that would have made it an ideal situation for a crash? >> we wanted it to be severe but survivabl survivable. if an airplane drops out of the sky at 35,000 feet it's not survivable. most crashes are survivable. because they take place pretty close to the ground near takeoff and landing phase. so, we wanted to have the plane roughly level, descent rate to be appropriate and the gear down, which is typically what happens in a xrash. >> all kinds of cameras. you took pictures from every possible vantage point here. what did you learn? >> we had 38 cameras on board. what was the best shot was the high-speed video of seeing the crash test, the kinematics that

occurred. three instrumented crash test dummies and was in a braced position, one in an unbraced position and cameras were right on it so we could see what would happen to a person during that crash event. just -- >> see how they move and -- >> see how they move and see kind of, you know, did their head hit first or what exactly happened. that information was critical to piece that together, with the data from the crash test dummies and put it all together. >> i was measuring floor accelerations. that's important because it looks how the forces come through the airplane and then into the interior and into the seats. cindy was focused on the up on the ants on board, measuring their -- the loads on their body. so, putting the two together from the airplane to the body, we can learn how they were injured. >> everybody wants to know, where do you sit on the plane in order to survive? bottom line question, right? >> well, we talked about this quite a bit in terms of, is it

the front, the back, where's the best place to sit? and i think it depends on the crash. there's some key things you can do when you get on the plane to kind of prepare. look where exit rows are. they may be behind you. count the number of rows to the exit row. when the crash actually occurs, our data shows just like we've been told, to brace. to stay down. to not make yourself vulnerable. if you're sitting upright, there will be debris flying around. you can see on the video all that debris comes flying in after the crash. after the crash, keep calm. don't panic. think about your exit plan. it's not necessarily the door you came in. i think that's one of the things that we see with accidents is people come in that front door and that's the first door they think of to go out. that may not be the closest exit. >> we hope none of you or us have to live through this for real but this is interesting information. thank you for sharing it with us. dr. tom barth and dr. cindy bir, thank you both very much.

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>> i wanted to know if there were any fatalities on that particular plane crash and the scientist dr. bir said yes, in first class. there you have it. >> fatalities in first class. >> that is all for "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point with soledad o'brien" starts right now. voters across the country get the final word. tonight's first presidential debate alter the direction of the presidential race?